Posted on 04/19/2023 6:29:40 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. -- Experts say a crisis looms in healthcare as hundreds of thousands of nurses plan to exit the workforce within the next few years.
We're used to hearing about staffing shortages since the beginning of the pandemic, but a report by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing puts it into stark perspective.
Roughly 800,000 registered nurses reported an intent to leave the nursing profession by 2027. 188,962 of them are under the age of 40.
"A lot of nurses quit in the first year of starting," but John Friberg said he's not one of them.
"I don't really see myself going anywhere for a while," the UW Health nurse said -- a fact he largely owes to the hospital's Nursing Residency he just completed last month.
"I think a big part is like the skills and being able to ease into being a nurse, but a lot of it is having people there to support you," Friberg said.
The 12-month program is one of 47 in the country, and UW has been a part of it since 2004.
"The best way we can impact that [shortage] is to keep them in the profession, and so that's where having a program that understand their needs and to support them is very very important," Kim McPhee, the program's manager, said.
Residents learn clinical skills with existing nurses and take a different class with a group of their peers every month.
"Many nursing schools had to change dramatically during the pandemic and they weren't able to have hands on skills the way that nurses are typically prepared and so we wanted to kind of overcome that gap," McPhee said.
Last year the hospital hired 200 nurses, and so far this year 54 have been hired to start their residency between February and March.
According to McPhee, they've had to adapt not just the training, but support systems for the soon-to-be nurses.
"I think we've seen more anxiety less confidence in their skills," she said.
Friberg recalled what was running through his mind at the beginning of his residency: "You're thinking like, 'Oh my gosh, how am I ever going to get to a point where I'm going to be a nurse like on my own without having anyone watch over me?'"
It goes without saying, it's a hard job that's causing stress, early retirement, and burnout.
"Right now I'm working on the burn unit," Friberg said. "There are things in other floors I'd be, like, 'Woah, that's way too intense for me,' but I'm perfectly happy with doing, like, hours of wound care."
"There's always going to be things that are challenging but you're learning everyday," the nurse said.
The pandemic has exacerbated a shortage of thousands of nurses "for the first time in over a decade in Wisconsin," Ann Zenk said.
Zenk is the president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association and joined News 3 Now's For the Record on Sunday.
"Nurses have really broad and in-depth training so they can fill a lot of roles in the healthcare team so when there's a shortage we really feel that impact in terms of access, in terms of needing to pursue creative strategies to make sure that we have staff at every bedside that's needed," she said.
And it's been trickling down to patients as a result -- longer wait times, less hospital bed availability -- and will get worse if employers don't make some serious changes, Zenk said.
"Meet some of the highest needs that our multigenerational workforce of today has," she said, "meaningful work, opportunity for advancement."
Or, as Einstein said, “In theory, theory is practical. In practice, it isn’t.”
Glad to have served. Loved every minute of Army Life. ;)
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